The Faerie
They say that a visit to The Faerie lasts forever. That once you are given leave to traverse the realm, most are not given leave to depart. And frankly, that was music to my ears. It had been ten years since the dream and I needed to see him. It had taken me eight to get 'that Herondale boy' out of my system and another two to heal. But I never forgot the dream.
I was to meet him at Taki's. I'd arranged it through Kaelie. I got their quite early because I was so excited. When he walked through the door, I instinctively stood up. Instead of coming over to my table, he held out his hand and I walked as slowly as I could with all of my enthusiasm to meet him, when really I wanted to run to him. When I finally reached the doorway he pulled me through it and into his arms.
"Why hello there!" I exclaimed, surprised that his enthusiasm matched my own.
"Don't expect me to be shy. I have waited ten years for this Clary. Did you know you are part Fey?" My jaw dropped when he said that.
"What do you mean, Mark? How can I be part Fey?" I ask, shocked but not surprised. I'm already a Shadowhunter with Angel blood, so of course there just has to be more.
"Well, I couldn't have sent you those dreams if you didn't have Faerie blood somewhere in your ancestry. And I want to find out how much." He says and then proceeds to climb up onto a beautiful big brown beast that can only be described as a stallion. He holds out a hand down to me to help me up.
"Umm, Mark, not to be skeptical here, but is that a horse?" I ask, bewildered.
"Yes, he's my horse. His name is Sage. I named him after you, actually." He says shyly.
"How do you have a horse in New York City?" I ask, obviously missing something.
"Don't worry, he's glamoured. No one can see him or me right now, and that means until you climb up, you'll just look like you're talking to yourself." He laughs pulling me up to sit in front of him.
"So, explain how a horse called Sage is named after me?" I ask, feeling like I'm missing something.
"Clary and Sage are both common names of the same plant." He grins, ruffling my hair playfully. He wraps his arms around my waist snugly and clicks his tongue and Sage carries us along the sidewalk until we get to the park. He has prepared a picnic lunch for us and we eat it on a blanket in the grass. He feeds me grapes as I lay with my head in his lap. We talk for hours, indulging on fruits and cheeses. Then he says it's time to get serious.
"I meant those dreams that I sent to you and I want them to come true. Since you're here, Clary, may I assume you want the same?" He asks while running his fingers through my curls as he braids my hair through with flowers.
"Yes, I wouldn't have come if I didn't want it Mark, I want to be with you. I'm not sure why we're drawn to each other this way, but I don't want to fight it. I'm tired of relationships where I have to make it work, I want to be with someone where, our togetherness feels as natural as breathing. And I feel that with you." I smile.
"Good, let's not waste any time then." He smiles. I nod and he takes my hand and leads me through the secret entrance into The Faerie.
"Where are you taking me?" I laugh as we walk along grassy corridors passing walls of climbing vines.
"To meet the new Queen." He smiles, squeezing my hand.
"Oh? I wasn't aware a new queen had been elected yet." I say. The old Queen only died two weeks ago.
"Time moves differently in The Faerie. Don't worry though, I think you'll like her much better than the last Queen. And she's expecting us so we'd better get going." He says, walking faster.
"The Queen will see you now." A faerie with spiky pink hair and yellow gossamer wings announces, opening the doors to the Queen's chambers. She is standing across the room facing away from us with her hands clasped behind her back. When she hears the doors open, she spins around to face us and when she does, I can't believe it. Her eyes light up when she sees us and, smiling, she holds her arms out to her brother. Apparently, the new Seelie Queen; is Helen!
"Mark! Oh, how I've missed you! Aline is off preparing the banquet as we speak. Clary! It's so good to see you again!" She grins, she lets go of Mark, and then she gives me a giant hug as well.
"I'm so glad it's you, Helen! When Mark said we were going to meet the new Seelie Queen, I was a little worried. As I'm sure you know the last Queen hated my guts." I laugh.
"Oh well don't worry, because I love your guts Clary, you've got moxy. And you'll be just what my brother needs. Everything will be ready for you both in a few hours, what would you like to do until then?" She asks us.
"Well, there is the small matter of my proposal first." Mark grins, looking at me shyly. He takes my hands in his. "Clary, here we are in the land under the hill. My sister is Queen and therefore, I am now a Prince. I can give you everything your heart desires my Sweet. Will you be mine?" He looks into my eyes as he says it. And that's when I know my dream is coming true.
"Angel's sake! Yes, Mark, I will be yours. I will marry you!" And he kisses me and I'm wrapped up in his arms and Helen's eyes are all misty and it's wonderful. "But Mark, don't you want the rest of our family to be here?" I say because I want my Mom and Luke to give me away.
"They will be, my love. They have all received special invitations to be here from the Queen herself. I wouldn't have anything less for my beautiful bride, Clary." He says, kissing me as if there's no one else in the room. I feel myself blushing as Helen laughs.
"The two of you are so cute together." She smiles. "Wait until you see Clary's dress Mark, it's exquisite!"
"How on earth did you know my size?" I ask her.
"I asked Isabelle the day that Mark told me you were the one." She says, looking as if she's said too much.
"And what day was that?" I ask, thinking I probably already know the answer.
"Why the day you two first met of course, he told me about the dreams Clary. I knew from the start that one day you'd be my sister-in-law. I just never thought it would take the two of you ten years, for crying out loud! And you sure took your sweet time getting over Jace, silly! You know Mark never loved anyone else in all that time. He was saving all his love for you." She smiles and I start to cry.
"Oh Helen, you shouldn't have said that! Clary, look at me. No, you don't have to feel guilty for loving Jace. It needed time to run its course. I think this will be even better now that we have waited. I've had ten years of watching you from afar, waiting for your heart to one day be available and now it is! That's ten years of wonderful anticipation and now that I have you, I can simply devour you my love. We will cherish every moment. So don't you cry. I love you so much Clary." He holds me close and looks into my eyes with a smile that lights up his whole face.
I don't know how he knew exactly how I was feeling but it's like he can read me. And furthermore, how did Helen know that I would even say yes to Mark? Maybe Faeries are clairvoyant or something. Anyway it's wonderful to have people who understand me for a change. To not have to explain myself and how I feel and why I feel that way. They just get it. It's so freeing. And so is being here in The Faerie! I feel like Mark must be right about me. Like this place calls to me (now that the old Queen is gone, that is) I don't think I ever want to leave. And I suppose, since I truly am marrying a Prince of the Seelie Court, I'll never have to.
"Mark, can you show me around for a while before the wedding? I'd like to have some quiet time with you before we find ourselves surrounded by people." I say, rubbing his back with my arms wrapped around him and my bouncy red curls pressing into his chest.
"Mmm hmm, yes my Beautiful. I would love that." He murmurs into my hair, kissing the top of my head tenderly. "May we take our leave, Highness?" He asks, looking to his sister.
"Of course you may, I shall see you both at the wedding! Oh and if I don't get a chance to say it later, then… Congratulations!" She nods and goes back to whatever she was probably doing before we interrupted. I'm sure Queens must be very busy people.
"When did you first know, that I would say yes?" I ask him as we walk, holding hands, through a meadow of brilliant red and gold flowers. "I mean, you seem to have had this all planned out for quite some time. When were you first sure of me?" I ask timidly.
"If you must know, I knew it the moment I saw your reaction to me after the dreams. I knew that one day you'd be mine." He brings my hand up to kiss it and it feels so wonderful.
"And yet all the other times I saw you after that, you never spoke of it? Even in The Faerie, on the road to Edom, when you were with the Wild Hunt, you never said anything, why?" I am still trying to puzzle it all out.
"You weren't ready then. I knew that if I rushed you or tried to pressure you, you'd never come to me and all would be lost. Those dreams that I sent you weren't just dreams, Clary. When I opened up that connection to you in your sleep it allowed us both to see the future we would have if we got together. And it's a future that is too important to me to have risked losing it by being overly impatient. I knew you and Jace wouldn't last. I think the only reason you were with him even that long was because of how much the two of you needed to overcome in order to be together in the first place. I think it was the idea of being with Jace that you were in love with." He says, stopping to pull me into his muscular arms and holding me as if he never wants to let me go.
"I want to let you know, my Beautiful, that I asked Helen to invite him to our wedding. Not to be cruel, just because I know that the two of you parted friends and it has been two years so as your friend I thought he should have the option to be present on your special day. He may not come though you know." Wow, I love that he would do that for me. It can't be easy for him to have Jace here for this. I really appreciate the gesture.
"Thank you so much Mark! It's hard to say, since it is Jace and he's unpredictable at times but, I hope he will come. We have become quite good friends in spite of our history and honestly, I think we make much better friends than we ever did lovers. At any rate, I appreciate you doing all of this. The wedding, inviting our loved ones, waiting so patiently for me for so long, it's all so amazing. You, Mark Blackthorn are amazing. And I am proud to be marrying you. " I say pulling him even closer and bringing my lips up to meet his. The kiss is not only delicious but I use it to convey everything I am feeling about him and about us. He seems pleased and deepens the kiss to effectively express the other thing that I am now remembering from the dreams besides the love… the passion.
AN: For everyone shipping Clark, here is your sequel. I am actually enjoying this storyline and may end up turning it into a full length story if enough people want that, what do you think?